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U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

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Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#131

Post by assemblyman »

nostrademons wrote: post #43
garbawarb wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or imagine if an employee works for you and this happens to them.

I've had a couple of reports that this applied to. It's incredibly disruptive. "I've got to fly back to India to renew my visa." "Okay, when will you be back?" "I have no idea, it depends when I can get an appointment. It could be next week, it might be in a month." "[State department] We're pausing all visa appointments." "Well fuck." Meanwhile I've got a tech lead who is 12 hours away from the rest of the team. He…

At least the procedure used to be that one would try to get an appointment at the US consulate in one's home country and then arrange the trip around it. Also, at least in my experience (but importantly, not with this administration) was that one was never required to leave the US.

The main constraint is re-entry into the US and being able to travel outside the US. If one stayed here, there was no problem switching schools, programs, jobs, adjusting status to permanent residency or naturalization. On the other hand, for re-entry, one needs a valid visa stamped on a passport which necessitated a trip to one's home country. This stamping visit could be unpredictable.

Ideally, one would like to travel freely to see family and friends but I see a lot of comments implying that one is forced to leave. It might be true now but a lot of comments here are conflating several issues together.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#132

Post by mcmcmc »

9x39 wrote: post #108
mcmcmc wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first responsibility is to protect the rights of all people in the country. Citizenship is not required for protected rights

Why be a citizen at all if non-citizens have all the benefits and none of the responsibilities?

Rights and benefits are two different things, surely you aren’t that dumb. Do you think non-citizens can get Social Security or a US Passport?

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#133

Post by unselect5917 »

adjejmxbdjdn wrote: post #64
rayiner wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the current admin are working hard to destroy the U.S as if they're foreign agents The U.S. had a draconian restrictive immigration policy from 1921-1965. That worked fine. How can you say with a straight face that someone must be a “foreign agent” to think doing the same thing again will have the same result? Surely the burden is on you to prove the opposite, right?

And the U.S. has been doing even better since 1965. So really the question goes back to you. Either way, your whataboutism isn’t even relevant since those were congressional changes. This is the executive trying to undermine the law.

>And the U.S. has been doing even better since 1965.

Better for whom? People are struggling to afford groceries largely because the dollar is worth 1/165th of its 1913 value and the minimum wage hasn't been raised in 17 years.

I found a job that pays in BTC and I'm super hopeful about that one because my effective salary won't go down by 3-8% every year but instead will appreciate relative to what things are priced in.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#134

Post by anon84873628 »

trgn wrote: post #101
miltonlost wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say it's on the Trump administration being full of racists and white nationalists and wanting to deport immigrants. Why do you wonder if it's economic instead of the Trump administration's announced policies of stopping immigration, including unconstitutionally removing birthright citizenship?

I think many (if not most) countries in the developed world should reduce immigration, and usa in particular should abolish birthright citizenship. The first because a lower supply of labor is going to create breathing space for an entire working population who will see tremendous job upheaval due to AI automation. A lower aggregate demand on houses, services will also be welcome to take the fuel out of inflation, an…

The administration has never justified immigration policy on economic terms, only keeping out criminals.

If it were really part of a coherent anti-inflation, pro-housing strategy, then, well, a lot of other policies would be different... (Including signing the ROAD act, not starting trade wars, or driving up the price of oil)

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#135

Post by nec4b »

blitzar wrote: post #67
rayiner wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“America” isn’t the landmass of America. “America” is the society that was built by mostly British immigrants bringing their language, law, and culture. America didn’t exist in 1492.

> immigrants bringing their language, law, and culture Immigrants; coming over here, not even speaking the language or respecting the local laws or culture. Outrageous.

If you were a native American it certainly felt outrages or do you think otherwise?

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#136

Post by JauntTrooper »

assemblyman wrote: post #120
JauntTrooper wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I don't want to minimize your friend's situation. But, a spousal visa is very different from being a permanent resident (maybe I am misunderstanding). If he got it through marrying a US citizen, there's a 3-year wait for naturalization and otherwise it's a 5-year wait. Naturalization never required leaving the country, at least in my experience but things might have changed.

You're right, I fixed the wording. I don't know all the details, but I do think it's a recent change. They've been married for almost ten years. His wife and child are US born.

Trump ended in-country processing and now requires almost all greencard applicants to go to a consulate abroad. My friend and his wife were surprised and nervous when they were told he'd have to leave due to this new requirement (rightfully so, in retrospect).

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#137

Post by unselect5917 »

totallygeeky wrote: post #88
DataDive wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You misunderstood my reply completely. I am saying we are not selecting for those people. When we hire at the university, we ignore creative, tenacious people and instead select mediocre people with a nice woke story that meets the woke requirements.

I would encourage you to reflect on what you think "woke" is, and why things that you think are woke are mutually exclusive from the skills and qualities you value. "Woke" is a nonsense scare phrase at this point, when what you're actually taking issue with is valuing people's lived experiences and backgrounds as a part of what they contribute. Understanding where people come from and how that colors their world view…

Pretending the word doesn't mean anything is the most obvious sign that the person saying that is one of them.

If you don't like the term given to your basket of political beliefs give one that encapsulates it that you like better.

"MAGAts" is the obvious 'other side' parallel. Both sides have their crazies and denying that one exists means you're obviously one of them. As a Pacific Green I don't even like the fact that I can say "both" and people both know what I'm talking about and perpetuates the misguided notion that only two parties exist.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#138

Post by mcmcmc »

unselect5917 wrote: post #127
klardotsh wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can’t vote in most elections (except a few local elections in some places) and aren’t guaranteed entry at the border. They also can’t work a litany of jobs requiring citizenship. They get a plenty bad enough shake. Let’s grant them the absolute basics of humane treatment and a fair shake at getting citizenship, sheesh. Other countries get by just fine not having such a huge delta between haves and have nots on c…

I have a better idea. Let them make their countries worth living in. If they don't like it in America they can leave. Because unlike Americans, we don't have another home country to retreat to. Most countries have MUCH higher standards for immigration and their citizens much better off for it.

> Most countries have MUCH higher standards for immigration and their citizens much better off for it.

I think your math is off. The US is in the top 10 for GDP per capita, 99% literacy rate when the global average is 87%, the poverty rate is below average, the list goes on. Most countries in the world aren’t even considered developed nations. Immigration has been America’s core growth engine for two and a half centuries. There may be problems but you are deluding yourself if you think the whole economy hasn’t benefited from immigration. Even when that immigration was through chattel slavery.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#139

Post by nostrademons »

assemblyman wrote: post #131
nostrademons wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had a couple of reports that this applied to. It's incredibly disruptive. "I've got to fly back to India to renew my visa." "Okay, when will you be back?" "I have no idea, it depends when I can get an appointment. It could be next week, it might be in a month." "[State department] We're pausing all visa appointments." "Well fuck." Meanwhile I've got a tech lead who is 12 hours away from the rest of the team. He…

At least the procedure used to be that one would try to get an appointment at the US consulate in one's home country and then arrange the trip around it. Also, at least in my experience (but importantly, not with this administration) was that one was never required to leave the US. The main constraint is re-entry into the US and being able to travel outside the US. If one stayed here, there was no problem switching s…

The first time it happened (2023) it was a non-issue; he did exactly as you said, appointment happened as planned, and then he was back on his scheduled plane trip a week later.

Everything post-2025 has been a shit-show. There's no predictability or clear guidance, either from our lawyers or from the state department.

Predictability matters a lot in business. If you know what the procedure is and how long it will take, you can plan around it. If the rules change in the middle of the game you're left scrambling to keep up.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#140

Post by unselect5917 »

ericmay wrote: post #118
jayGlow wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No problem it's a pretty interesting statistic one of the articles explains how it might be misleading but it doesn't dispute the numbers.

Yes I found that article (despite the white text at the top) to also be interesting! Thanks again to both of you.

I was wondering why you thanked two people who provided secondary sources (very courteous of you), but not me when I'm who you asked and I provided the source immediately. So I opened the reply in a private window and realized the reply I gave with nothing but exactly what you asked for is [dead], but that fact is hidden from me while logged in: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49454527

This site is worse than reddit in all of the worst ways.

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